How to write a letter of recommendation
Every university in America or Europe requires a student to have at least one recommendation letter from a professor, teacher, or employer in their application.
The thing is that this concept of writing recommendation letters for students and employees is not spread in all countries or universities. Sometimes teachers and professors are willing to sign recommendation letters, but not to write them. A lot of my friends from Russia, Algeria, and Vietnam asked for a recommendation letter and ended up writing it themselves.
If this is your case, then you are extremely lucky, because you decide what to mention in the recommendation and what to elude. There are several rules to follow when you write a letter of recommendation:
- Write about your best qualities: how much a hard worker you are, how social you are, that you are a problem solver, that you achieve your goals and don't give up.
- Lie! Show how perfect you are even if you are not. Add all best qualities to your persona. Write about something extraordinary that you have never done, but what will represent you as a better candidate for the program. Write about all events, school or university clubs for other students that you organized, about how much you have done for your previous educational institution, about how perfect you are comparing to your classmates.
Here are five examples of letters of recommendation.
Recommendations for a Bachelor degree student
I am writing this reference at the request of (student) who is applying for (university). I have known (student) for three years in my capacity as a teacher at (university). (student) took English from me and earned superior grades in those classes.As (student's) professor, I have had an opportunity to observe (student's) participation and interaction in classes and to evaluate (student's) knowledge of the subject matter. (student) is an outstanding student in all respects. (student) has proven that through hard personal work as well as teamwork, (student) can accomplish tasks in a courteous and timely manner.In addition, not only did (student) always excel at (student's) home assignments, (student) also always tried to base all (student's) projects on a business or economic topic. One perfect example of (student's) outstanding work was (student's) presentation and a research paper about the Dot-com bubble. The original assignment was to write a simple story and to tell it to the class in order to practise difficult tenses. Instead of a simple story, (student) decided to understand a challenging topic in economics, which sometimes uses quite complicated vocabulary. Hitherto to those my students, who have the same assignment, I give this particular example of a truly splendid work.Based on (student's) grades, attendance and class participation, I would rate (student's) academic performance in my class as superior.In conclusion, I would highly recommend (student) for this academic program. If (student's) performance in my class is any indication of how (student) will succeed, (student) will be a positive addition to the program. (student) is well equipped to grow from challenges that (student) is presented with. (student's) language skills, teaching ability and aspiration for the business industry prepare (student) beautifully for your program.If you should need any additional information you can feel free to contact me at abc@abc.com anytime.
I am writing this letter to give my highest possible recommendation for (student) who was a student at (school) where I am in the capacity of the principal. I have known (student) for the last three years as an exceptionally talented student who showed exceptional qualities both in academic results and in the social life within the high school and beyond.
From the first days of studying in high school, (student) showed himself not only as a responsible and academically talented person, but also as a socially active student. During the three years of the high school, (student) didn’t skip any school event. Moreover, in most cases, (student) was that person, who tried to organize these events in a way that everyone would like them and actively participate in them.
All the teachers that have taught (student) witnessed how responsible and serious (student) is. In addition to such an important characteristic as a responsibility to (student's) work, (student) also is able to handle the pressure of deadlines very well. These qualities together with everyday hard work allowed (student) to excel in every subject and, as a result, (student) has been always the leader in every aspect and has held the highest position in (student's) class' rating for the three consecutive years.
On many occasions, (student) used to help classmates in various subjects, especially in English, History, and Literature. (student) was even able to organize (student's) own school club and to gather smart students together in order to help others to understand some difficult topics in school subjects.
(student) is one of the most brilliant and kind-hearted students that I have encountered in my career. (student) has an extremely amiable personality and is popular not just among classmates, but among almost the whole high school as (student) shows great consideration and deep respect for everyone.
In summary, I strongly believe that (student's) intellectual ability and enthusiasm for learning and working are qualities that will help (student) well in (student's) future studying and life. Without any doubts, (student) is the type of a student who has the potential for a great success at the college level.
I think (student) would be an outstanding asset to your program. I give (student) my highest recommendation.
I am writing this letter to give my highest possible recommendation for (student) who was a student at (school) where I am in the capacity of the principal. I have known (student) for the last three years as an exceptionally talented student who showed exceptional qualities both in academic results and in the social life within the high school and beyond.
From the first days of studying in high school, (student) showed himself not only as a responsible and academically talented person, but also as a socially active student. During the three years of the high school, (student) didn’t skip any school event. Moreover, in most cases, (student) was that person, who tried to organize these events in a way that everyone would like them and actively participate in them.
All the teachers that have taught (student) witnessed how responsible and serious (student) is. In addition to such an important characteristic as a responsibility to (student's) work, (student) also is able to handle the pressure of deadlines very well. These qualities together with everyday hard work allowed (student) to excel in every subject and, as a result, (student) has been always the leader in every aspect and has held the highest position in (student's) class' rating for the three consecutive years.
On many occasions, (student) used to help classmates in various subjects, especially in English, History, and Literature. (student) was even able to organize (student's) own school club and to gather smart students together in order to help others to understand some difficult topics in school subjects.
(student) is one of the most brilliant and kind-hearted students that I have encountered in my career. (student) has an extremely amiable personality and is popular not just among classmates, but among almost the whole high school as (student) shows great consideration and deep respect for everyone.
In summary, I strongly believe that (student's) intellectual ability and enthusiasm for learning and working are qualities that will help (student) well in (student's) future studying and life. Without any doubts, (student) is the type of a student who has the potential for a great success at the college level.
I think (student) would be an outstanding asset to your program. I give (student) my highest recommendation.
Recommendations for a Master degree student
I am delighted to recommend Evgenii Kolesnikov, with whom I had an opportunity to interact over the last 7 years as his math teacher prior to his enrollment in the university, and then as the consultant when he studied mathematics in the “Applied Mathematics and Computer Science” department at the Moscow Aviation Institute (National Research University).Throughout this time he has demonstrated himself as an individual who is constantly working on self-improvement, striving to proficiency in his elected field. He does not stop once he achieves success, but puts forth maximal effort to continue developing. His work on computational gas dynamics deserves especial attention, and was recognized as the best work in his class. It is also noteworthy that Evgenii was the only student who met the deadline on turning in his work.Interaction with him gave me a great opportunity to better understand the aspirations and interests of the students who plan to continue work as scientists. His ability to get his bearings in the education process and select proper and interesting solutions allowed him to successfully grasp the complex education course of the university and establish his future specialization in science. He possesses the ability to clearly and precisely express his thoughts and views.I believe that all these qualities make him a worthy candidate to enroll in the Master’s Degree program of your university.As to his personal character traits, the first and foremost is his openness and interest towards his peers, hunger for knowledge and ability to share it with others.I strongly recommend Evgenii Kolesnikov for continued education in the Master’s Degree program of your university.
Evgenii Kolesnikov was one of the leading students of the “Applied Mathematics and Computer Science” department, and undergone his study at the Moscow Aviation Institute (National Research University) from 2012 until 2016.As the dean of the faculty, I had to often interact with Evgenii in the professional capacity throughout his education. Over his time here and our interactions, Evgenii has proven himself a remarkable individual, showing high interest towards everything related to mathematics and physics.His ability to set goals for himself and put forth effort necessary to achieve them is quite admirable. He is capable of analyzing scientific information and efficiently applies it in his study. A great example is the term project he wrote in his 3rd year “SVD – decomposition and its practical applications” (see https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1609587.v1). It took him several months of tedious independent work in the area of linear algebra. But being goal-driven, he was able to grasp not only the theoretical and numerical analysis methods of linear algebra, but also how these methods could be implemented in practice.Evgenii is not afraid to undertake complicated tasks. He is known for his self-confidence, ability to solve problems, and readiness to start and complete new tasks in the best way possible.One of his positive personal traits is that he is happy to share his knowledge with colleagues. He is able to simply and easily explain complex topics, which made him popular among his peers. A testament to that is the fact that he was allowed to deliver several lectures during the course of his study, which included lectures on the theory of heat conduction, numerical analysis methods in gas dynamics, interaction between MPI and CUDA, and numerical analysis methods of SVD in linear algebra (https://www.youtube.com/user/Rjktcj456rjktcj/videos?sort=dd&view=0&shelf_id=0).He has great desire to pursue future academic and pedagogical career. I am delighted to recommend Evgenii Kolesnikov for continued education in the Master’s Degree program of your university, and am certain that if given the opportunity, he would use it to its fullest potential and demonstrate his professional and personal qualities.
I happily recommend Evgenii Kolesnikov for enrollment into the Master’s Degree program, with whom I worked on scientific research over the last two years. While in his Bachelor’s degree program, Evgenii specialized in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, but he also demonstrated great interest towards research in analytical mechanics and celestial mechanics. Under my supervision he completed the course of analytical mechanics and some parts of the celestial mechanics, while he worked diligently and continuously. I even scolded him on occasion for working too much. I am certain that he will display remarkable effort in studying in the Master’s Degree program.Evgenii has a mathematical mindset. He strives for in-depth understanding of the subject, and meticulously studies the mathematical proof, while solving a vast amount of problems. His passion for abstract knowledge has to be limited by applied problems. Due to his persistence, he has substantially increased his knowledge in analytical and celestial mechanics and became a leader in his class. His graduate thesis, dedicated to the problem of numerical investigation of the uncontrolled drift of the Earth satellite under the gravitational pull of the Moon, is recognized as one of the best in his class (https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3464087.v1). I would also like to note that Evgenii is in the top-3 students at the “Applied Mathematics and Physics” faculty of the Moscow Aviation Institute (he is in 3rd place).Evgenii is active in sports. Since 5 years of age he has been involved in combat sport, and even became a ranked athlete. I am certain that his organization in studying and remarkable work ethics is driven by his sport discipline.Evgenii is an exemplary and responsible student; an honest and reliable friend. He has positive influence on his peers, does not run from problems, and is self-confident. I strongly recommend Evgenii for enrollment in the Master’s Degree program of your university.
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs
CC BY-NC-ND